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Women over 50 'too old' to love - author

Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage caption Yann Moix is well-known in France, where he also presents and directs

A French writer is being criticised after saying he would be "incapable" of loving a woman aged 50 or above... despite being 50 himself.

Yann Moix told Marie Claire magazine he found women of that age "too old".

"I prefer younger women's bodies, that's all. End of. The body of a 25-year-old woman is extraordinary. The body of a woman of 50 is not extraordinary at all," he said.

The comments have sparked an angry backlash on social media.

Marina Foïs, a French comedian, joked in a tweet that because she is about to turn 49 she only has "one year and 14 days" left to sleep with the author.

One twitter user mocked him, saying women over 50 were likely "breathing a sigh of relief" at his comments.

Another jokily asked: "Can women under 50 be invisible to you as well please?"

Elsewhere, some women over 50 posted images showing off their body confidence in protest.

Journalist Colombe Schneck posted (then later deleted) a photograph of her bottom with the caption: "Voila, the buttocks of a woman aged 52…what an imbecile you are, you don't know what you're missing..."

Others shared images of Hollywood celebrities close to the age of 50, such as Halle Berry and Jennifer Aniston, to disprove his comments.